Tie stay



Feb. 3, 1948. a. F. REUBUSH T'IE STAY.

Filed Jan. so, 1946 lNl/EN TOR A TTORNEY Patented Feb. 3, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIE STAY Robert F. Reubush, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January '30, 1946, Serial No.- 644,317

volaims. (01. 2-153) This invention relates to a tie stay, and more particularly to a small device of simple construction adapted to restrain in place the knot of a tie, especially that of a four-in-hand tie. The structural features of this tie stay are such that it is positive in its action of holding the knot from slipping down from its proper position covering the front collar button, or from moving to the right or left of it.

At the same time, moreover, these features of my device are such that the user can very easily place it in its effective position on the tie .so that'when it is in use, the tie will remain locked against loosening or disarrangement and thereby will always present a neat and fastidious appearance.

Then it is a special feature of my device that when it is in use, it is for all intents and purposes completely out of sight even when the tie as worn is viewed from the side of its wearer.

It is still another very special feature of my device that its structure and manner of use are such that it causes practically no wear on the material of which the tie is made. In fact, its use will extend the life of the tie by reducing friction to a minimum, particularly on exposed to view portions of the tie, and. by enabling the knot of the tie constantly to hold its proper position without the necessity of being pulled so tightly as is necessary without the use of the tie stay device.

The foregoing and other advantageous features of my tie stay will be more readily noted from the following more detailed description of it, taken in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numeral in different figures identifies the same specific part. In the drawings, Figures 1 through 4 illustrate a preferred-embodiment of my device; and

Fig. -1 is the front elevation of it;

Fig. 2 is its side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of a'knotted four-in-hand tie showing my tie stay inserted in its effective or working position, within the knot and against the back of the back of the tie;

Fig. 4 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Fig. 5 is the front elevation of a very slight modification of the preferred form shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Fig. 6 isthe front elevation of a'merely flattened modification of the embodiment of Figures '1 and 2;

Fig. 7 is the side elevation of the form of Figured;

2 Fig. 811s the front elevation of a further embodiment prepared from one piece of sufficiently heavy gauge wire to retain rigidly its shaped.

Fig. '9 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view along. thelineQ-il of Figure 8.

From these drawings, it is seen that my tie stay consists basically of two essential parts, namely, the body 20 and the engaging or prong part 2|.

The body 20 may be a single, uniform whole as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7. However, as seen in the'preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1 through 4 and the modifications of it in Figures 5, 8 and 9, the body 2!) may consist of three subsidiary portions, all of which actually merge into one another in sequence to form a continuous unit whichis the body 26. Thus, with the engaging or prong part 2| held pointing downwardly, the body 20 consists (going from its top to its bottom) of (i) the insert portion 22, tit) a grip or holding portion 23, and lastly (iii) the prong base 24 which actually is the bottom of thegrip or holding portion 23..

While there may be some latitude in the specific dimensions of my tie stay, it is to be noted that fundamentally the length (or'height) of its body 20 need only be about as great as, or (in the preferred embodiment) slightly greater than, the height of the average knot worn in the most widely used four-in-hand ties. In other words, the height (or length) of the body 20 need only be suificient for its top edge 25 to fit or press snugly against the under side of the topmost the tie, at .a point very near the bottom. .28 of the back of the knot 21, and to enable the user to disengage the tie stay by withdrawing the prong part l2l from its hold in the back of the back of the .tie. Thus, from very little up to about the entire length, of the grip portion, or up to about one quarter to about a half inch or so, is exposed below the bottom 2.8 of the. back of the knot, although not visible from the front or side of the wearer. i

Thus, for most pracical purposes a desirable range for the length of the body 20 is'from about an inch and one-half to about two and one.- half inches, although, of course, it may be a little shorter than the minimum, or a little longer than the maximum, of this range, all dependent on the common styles as to height of knots for four-in-hand ties, particularly as guided by the indicated requirements in the preceding paragraph.

The width of the body 20 of my tie stay need only be suflicient to permit it to be handled easily in service and to be rigid enough to maintain its form. Thus, the width may be as little as about five-sixteenths of an inch to about sevensixteenths of an inch, although it may be a little narrower than the minimum or a little Wider than the maximum. Practically, it need not be any wider than is sufilcient to permit it to be inserted readily into the knot between the back of the part 29 of the tie and the inner surface of the back turn of the knot, and without extending the width of the bottom of the tie.

The thickness of the body 20 need only be sufficient to permit it to retain its shape in service. An advantageously practical thickness is about three sixty-fourths to about a sixteenth of an inch, although it may be a little less or a little more than these thicknesses.

The prong part 2! advantageously consists of two quite short prongs, although in some modifications one may be sufficient. They need be only sufliciently long to catch into, and in service, hold on to the back of the back part 29 of the tie. A practical length is around three-six teenths of an inch although they could be slightly longer. The service is more efiicient if the prong or prongs, from a point very close to the bottom edge 30 of the body 20, are bent forward up to from about a thirty to about a sixty degree, or even a ninety degree, angle from the vertical, although a forty-five degree angle is .aclvanta geously effective, and then within even less than three-thirty-seconds or about a sixteenth of an inch are bent downwardly again, as noted in Figures 2 and 4.

When two prongs 2| are used, as in the pre ferred modification, they may be spaced preferably at least no closer to one another than'to have one extending downwardly from about the middle of each half of the prong base 24. However, they operate even more effectively if spaced still further apart. If only one prong 2i is used, it is advantageously positioned extending downwardly from about the middleof the bottom of the prong base 24. While two prongs 2| serve quite effectively, the construction is not of necessity limited as to the number of prongs or solely to prongs, as any other suitable means for engaging the bottom of the body 26 against the back of the tie, and without bein readily visible from the front, may be used.

The body 29 may be entirely straight as shown in'the modification in Figures 6 and 7. However, advantageously it may have a slight arcuate curvature backward in about its upper half as noted in Figures 2 and 4. I

The modification illustrated in Figures 1 through 7 may be prepared, for example, by stamping or punching with suitable dies, out of a thin sheet of the selected metal such as brass, bronze, silver, gold, steel, and the like, of indicated thickness of the finished tie stay, a piece of the same length and width of the desired tie stay and with two separate pin-like projections extending length-wise from one end and in the same relative position to one another as that of,

the pins 2| for the tie stay. If desired, the piece so stamped or punched may be turned out flat as in Figures 6 and 7. Then if the modification of Figures 1 and 2 is desired, the fiat piece just described can be subjected to a second or shaping operation wherein by the use of properly shaped dies, the body and the prongs can be deformed to their respective shapes shown in Figures 1 and 2. However, by use of the properly designed dies the modification illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 can be turned out in one operation in a suitable punch press suiliciently strongly designed to punch out the required piece of metal and deform it into the desired shape of body and prong pins in one continuous operation thereby giving the pins the double bend hereinabove described as making them more eifective and also giving the body portion 29 the described backward slight arcuate curvature in its upper half.

The modification of Figures 8 and 9 is prepared, for example, by taking a Single piece of the desired sufiiciently heavy gauge wire of length at least equivalent to that of the entire peripheryof the body 2d of the tie stay plus the length of the two prongs 2i and the distance between them in the desired finished device, bending the wire in the shape of the letter U with its base equal to that of the top of the tie stay to be made, then at a point from the base of the U equal to the desired length of the body 20 of the stay bending the outer ends of the arms of the U (at that point) toward and alongside of one another, and then twisting each around the other along the fourth side of the enclosed figure thus formed, then at a suitable point in the prong base just formed the two ends of the wire are brought forward in the position of the prongs 2i, are cut to the proper length and their ends are pointed to form the prongs (if desired, when the original piece of wire is selected of exactly the right length to form the tie stay without having to cut oil any surplus when all the operations are completed, the ends may be pointed at the very beginning of the forming steps so that they remain as the prongs 2! at the finish of the series of forming steps) The manner of use of the'tie stay of the invention is noted from reference to Figures 3 and 4. After the four-in-hand tie is knotted in the usual manner although without pulling it as tight as heretofore, but only neatly snug, the insert portion 22 of the body 20 of the tie stay is inserted between the rearmost turn of the knot 2i of the tie and the back of the back part 29 until its top edge 25 is snug against the under side of the topmost turn 26 of the knot 27. Then holding the inserted tie stay in place, thereby keeping the knot in place, the back part 29 of the tie is given a slight pull downward and the part of it near the prongs 21 is pushed back slightly to permit the prongs to engage themselves in the back of the back part 29 of the tie, thereb anchoring the prongs 2! and of necessity also the tie stay. The tie stay is removed or disengaged by reversing these steps.

It is also possible to knot the tie in the use While my tie stay has been illustrated and de-,

scribed by reference to certain specific embodiments of it, it is understood that modifications, variations, alterations and substitutions may be made in it within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. For a four-in-hand necktie, a tie stay consisting solely of a single, unitary substantially flat, relatively rectangular, elongated body member constructed. solely for insertion vertically in the knot of the tie and between the back of the back part of the tie and the inner surface of the back turn of the knot, and pin-like engaging means integrally affixed at the bottom end of the body member and adapted fixedly to engage the back of the back part of the tie, the dimensions of the stay being such that when inserted in the above described position in the knot and with the top of the body member against the under side of the topmost turn of the knot, the bottom end of the body member is exposed only slightly below the bottom of the back of the knot and only to an extent about sufficient to permit said exposed part to be grasped by its side edges between the thumb and either the index or middle finger for holding while the engaging means is affixed to the back of the back of the tie to hold the stay fixed against slipping down, said body member being of sufiicient thickness to resist deformation during handling and of such width to permit its insertion into the knot in the manner above described and without necessarily extending the width of the bottom of the knot.

2. A tie stay as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engaging means extends downwardly from the bottom end of the body member and is pinlike for penetrating the back of the back part of the tie for holding the stay fixed against slipping down.

3. A tie stay as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engaging means extends downwardly from the bottom end of the body member and consists of two, spaced apart, relatively fairly short pins adapted to penetrate the back of the back part of the tie for holding the stay fixed against slipping down.

4. A tie stay as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body member has a relatively slight arcuate form substantially in the upper half of it.

5. A tie stay as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engaging means consists of two, spaced apart, relatively fairly short pins extending downwardly from the bottom end of the body member and inclined in their upper half away from the plane of the body member and bent downwardly again in their lower half in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the body member.

6. A tie stay as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body member at its lower part is deformed by having an arcuate recess from each of its side edges starting at a point substantially immediately above its bottom edge and running for about a half inch along the side edge and being from about a sixteenth to about an eighth of an inch deep at its deepest point, both of said recesses bellying toward one another so as to provide a grip or holding portion of the body member.

7. For a four-in-hand necktie, a tie stay consisting solely of a single, unitary substantially fiat, relatively rectangular, elongated body member constructed solely for insertion vertically in the knot of the tie and between the back of the back part of the tie and the inner surface of the back turn of the knot, and engaging means integrally afiixed consisting of two, spaced apart, relatively fairly short pins extending downwardly from the bottom edge of the body member and inclined in their upper half away from its plane and bent downwardly again in their lower half in a plane substantially parallel to its plane and adapted to penetrate the back of the back part of the tie for holding the stay fixed against slipping down, the dimensions of the stay being such that on insertion as above described in the knot and with the top of the body member against the under side of the topmost turn of the knot, the bottom end of the body member is exposed only slightly below the bottom of the back of the tie knot and only to an extent about sufficient to permit said exposed part to be grasped between the thumb and either the index and the middle finger in two opposed, shallow concave recesses, one along each of its side edges starting from a point substantially immediately above its bottom edge and for about a half inch along the side edge, both of said recesses bellying toward one another and adapted for holding while the pins penetrate the back of the back of the tie, the body member having substantially in its upper half a relatively slight arcuate turn so that its top edge would be in back of an imaginary straight plane drawn from the bottom edge along the body member and the engaging pins would be in front of said imaginary plane, said body member being of sufficient thickness to resist deformation during handling and of such width to permit its insertion into the knot without necessarily extending the width of the knot.

ROBERT F, REUBUSH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,939,576 Smith Dec. 12, 1933 2,375,405 Dennett May 8, 1945 1,955,988 Tufts Apr. 24, 1934 1,885,476 Pettit Nov. 1, 1932 2,131,311 Cirelli Sept. 27, 1938 2,165,913 Winter July 11, 1939 

